Extendible clothing rack



Dec. 24, 1968 a. v. BRYANT EXTENDIBLE CLOTHING RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 25, 1967 W an 3 BY W f ATTORNEY Dec. 24, 1968 B. v. BRYANT 3,417,874

EXTENDIBLE CLOTHING RACK Filed Aug. 25, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BILLY V. BRYANT ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,417,874 EXTENDIBLE CLOTHING RACK Billy V. Bryant, 2021 Durham, Irving, Tex. 75060 Filed Aug. 25, 1967, Ser. No. 663,331 6 Claims. (Cl. 211-100) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A retractable clothing hanger supporting rack having a pair of pivotally interconnected elongated hanger supporting arms. One of the arms has an ofiset portion adjacent the pivotal connection of the arms. A support member is connected to the other of the pair of arms and a link member extends between the support member and the offset portion.

This invention relates to clothing racks and is particularly directed to clothing racks for providing maximum utilization of available storage space.

In modern houses, apartments, and mobile homes, it is almost axiomatic that the storage space for clothing is limited, if not inadequate.

Due to the high costs of construction of houses and apartments, and the space restrictions of mobile homes, the problem becomes a trade-off between room size and storage space. However, most closets and other clothing storage areas simply provide one or more horizontal bars on which clothing may be hung. Unfortunately, this arrangement results in ineflicient use of the available storage space and frequently creates areas, for example, at the ends of the bar, where clothing hung on the bar is relatively inaccessable. Numerous devices have been proposed heretofore to overcome these problems. However, none of the prior art devices have been entirely satisfactory. Many of the prior art devices have been unduly complicated and expensive. Other prior art devices have been poorly designed and have had insuflicient strength to support the weight of the clothing which they could accommodate.

These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention and a clothing rack is provided which is simple and economical to construct and install; yet, which is extremely rugged and provides maximum utilization of available storage space.

The advantages of the present invention are preferably attained by providing a clothing rack which is foldable between an extended position, providing ready access to clothing hung thereon, and a retracted position, providing highly efiicient use of the available space. In addition, support means are provided for the clothing rack which assure that the rack has suflicient strength to support the clothing that can be accommodated by the rack.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved clothing rack means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide clothing rack means yielding maximum utilization of available storage space.

A further object of the present invention is to provide clothing rack means which is simple and economical to construct and install; yet, which provides maximum utilization of available storage space and ready access to clothing hung on the rack.

A specific object of the present invention is to provide a clothing rack which is foldable between an extended position, providing ready access to clothing hung thereon, and a retracted position, providing highly efiicient utilization of the available space; together with support means for assuring that the rack has sufiicient strength 3,417,874 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 to support the clothing that can be accommodated by the rack.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken with reference to the lfigures of the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a clothing rack embodying the present invention, shown in the extended position;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the clothing rack of FIG. 1, shown in the retracted position;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of the clothing rack of FIG. 1, shown in the extended position; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the clothing rack of FIG. 3, shown in the retracted position.

In that form of the present invention chosen for purposes of illustration in FIG. 1, a clothing rack is shown comprising a first clothing supporting member 2 having an elongated portion 4 formed with a plurality of openings 6 therein to receive the hooks of clothes hangers or the like. An offset portion 8 is provided adjacent one end 10 of the elongated portion 4 and projects upwardly and rearwardly from the elongated portion 4 when the rack is in the extended position. A second clothing supporting member 12 has an elongated portion 14 formed with a plurality of openings therein, similar to the openings 6, and has a projection 16 extending perpendicular to the elongated portion 14 and located approximately mid-way along the elongated portion 14. One end 18 of the elongated portion 14 of clothing supporting member 12 is pivotally secured to the end 10 of the elongated portion 4 of clothing supporting member 2. A first, generally L-shaped, support member 20 has one end 22 pivotally secured to the projection 16 of clothing supporting member 12 and has the other end 24 pivotally secured to a suitable mounting bracket 26. In addition, a link member 28 has one end thereof pivotally secured to the support member 20 at a point 30 spaced from the end 22 of support member 20, While the other end 32 of link member 28 is pivotally secured to the end 34 of the offset portion 8 of clothing supporting member 2. The length of link member 28 and the location of pivot point 30 are chosen so that, in the extended position, the elongated portions 4 and 14 of clothing supporting members 2 and 12 form a substantially straight line, as seen in FIG. 1. If desired, suitable stop means 36 may be provided between the offset portion 8 of clothing supporting member 2 and the elongated portion 14 of clothing supporting member 12 to prevent over-travel. A projection 38 is formed on the offset portion 8 of clothing supporting member 2 and resilient means, such as spring 40, is connected between the projections 38 and a suitable point 42 on the support member 20. The size and location of projection 38 and the location of point 42 are chosen such that spring 40 will form passing above the point where end 32 of link 28 is secured to offset portion 8 and below pivot point 30, when the rack is in the extended position of FIG. 1', and passing below the point where end 32 of link 28 is secured to offset portion 8 and above pivot point 30, when the rack is in the retracted position of FIG. 2. Finally, a second, generally L-shaped, support member 44 has one end 46 thereof pivotally secured to end 48 of the elongated portion 14 of clothing supporting member 12 and has the other end 50 pivotally secured to a suitable mounting bracket 52.

' In use, mounting brackets 26 and 52 are preferably secured to the ceiling of a storage area, such as a closet, and the clothing rack of the present invention depends therefrom, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Clothing 54 and 56 to be stored are hung on conventional clothes hangers and are supported on the rack by inserting the hooks of the hangers through the openings 6, as indicated at 58 and 60. When the rack is in the retracted position, as seen in FIG. 2, the clothing 54 and 56 are closely hung, providing highly efiicient use of the available storage space. However, when the rack is in the extended position, as seen in FIG. 1, ready access may be had to the clothing 54 and 56. Moreover, since support members and 44 are L-shaped, it will be seen that the rack moves away from the rear wall of the storage area as the rack is moved between the retracted position, seen in FIG. 2, and the extended position, seen in FIG. 1; thereby facilitating access to clothing hung toward the rear of the rack. In fact, by proper dimensioning of the support members 20 and 44, the rack may be made to move completely outside the storage area, as seen in FIG. 1 to facilitate access to clothing hung toward the rear of the rack. It will also be seen that, by positioning spring 40 in the manner described above, the spring 40 is placed in tension in both the extended and retracted positions of the rack and tends to maintain the rack in the desired position.

In some instances, it may be desirable to mount the rack of the present invention on a vertical wall, rather than on a ceiling. To accomplish this, the support member 20 may be made straight, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, and may be provided on end 24 with a pin 54, or the like, to cooperate with a slot 56 in a suitable mounting bracket 58. In this form of the invention, support member 44 is omitted and end 48 of the elongated portion 14 of clothing supporting member 12 is pivotally connected to a suitable mounting bracket 60. This form of the present invention functions in substantially the same manner as that of FIG. 1. However, the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has the disadvantage that, in moving from the retracted position to the extended position, it does not move away from the rear wall of the storage area. Consequently, access to clothing hung near the end 43 of clothing supporting member 12 is less readily available in the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 than in the form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Obviously, numerous other variations and modifications may be made without departing from the present invention. Accordingly, it should be clearly understood that the forms of the present invention described above and shown in the figures of the accompanying drawing are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A clothing rack comprising:

a first clothing supporting member having an enlongted portion and an offset portion located adjacent one end of said enlongated portion;

a second clothing supporting member having an elongated portion and having one end thereof pivotally secured to said one end of the elongated portion of said first clothing supporting member;

a first support member having one end thereof pivotally secured to the elongated portion of said second clothing supporting member at approximately the midpoint thereof; and

link means having one end thereof pivotally secured to the free end of said offset portion of said first clothing supporting member and having the other end of said link means pivotally secured to said first support member at a point spaced from said one end of said first support member.

2. The clothing rack of claim 1 further comprising:

resilent means connected to retain said clothing rack in a selected position.

3. The clothing rack of claim 1 further comprising:

a first projection extending from said oifset portion adjacent the free end thereof; and

resilient means having one end thereof connected to said first projection and the other end thereof connected to said first support member in a manner such that said resilient means defines a line passing above said free end of said ofiset portion, When said rack is in the extended position, and below said free end of said offset portion, when said rack is in the retracted position.

4. The clothing rack of claim 1 further comprising:

said first support member being generally L-sha-ped; and

a second, generally L-shaped, support member having one end thereof pivotally connected to the free end of the elongated portion of said second clothing supporting member.

5. The clothing rack of claim 4, further comprising:

means pivotally mounting each of said support members to depend from a horizontal structure.

6. The clothing rack of claim 1 further comprising:

said first support member being straight,

means slidably securing one end of said first support member to a vertical Wall, and

means pivotally securing the free end of the elongated portion of said second clothing supporting member to a vertical wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,005,374 10/ 1911 Vanderveld 21 l94 1,464,352 8/1923 Cox 3 123 15 X 2,022,172 11/1935 Aldeen 312--315 X 2,471,349 5/ 1949 Reiss 211-99 2,518,370 8/1950 Pincus et a1 211l00 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

